To agree any items to be dealt
with after the public (including the press) have been excluded.
Thereare no itemswhich officersrecommendshould be dealtwithin thisway.

Minutes:

There were no confidential/exempt items.

6.

Decisions made by Cabinet called in by Members for scrutiny in accordance with the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules

There are no items identified.

Minutes:

There were no items called in.

7.

Update on the COVID-19 response by East Devon District Council

A
verbal update on the COVID-19 response will be provided by the
Chief Executive, Mark Williams, supported by Portfolio Holders,
with the opportunity for questions from Members. Topics of specific
interest covered may include aspects of Housing; the Council Tax
Reduction Scheme; the process of obtaining food parcels, school
meal vouchers and need for Food Bank support; a local approach to
testing, and other COVID-19 related matters such as staffing
issues, and future finances, since the impact of the crisis on
residents, businesses and the Council as a whole has been
significant.

Minutes:

Members received a verbal update on the
COVID-19 response by the Chief Executive, Mark Williams, Topics of
specific interest covered included aspects of housing, the Council
Tax Reduction Scheme, the process of obtaining food parcels, and
need for Food Bank support, and other COVID-19 related matters such
as staffing issues, and future finances, since the impact of
residents, businesses and the Council as a whole has been
significant.

Mark Williams reported that there had been
three key areas for Local Government.

1. Supporting adult care – this was led
by Devon County Council.

2. Supporting the economy.

3. Impact of lockdown and the Council.

With regard to the economy, Mark Williams
reported that COVID-19 had a big impact on the local economy. From
April there had been a substantial increase in Universal Credit
claims. The Council was also the advocate for a grant scheme
introduced by the Government to support small and medium sized
businesses. There had been a fund of £50M and this had been
distributed with help from the Revenues and Benefits and Economy
teams.

The vast majority of businesses had been
pleased to get the money quickly and 87% of all the money allocated
to East Devon had been distributed. It was hoped to be able to run
down the scheme by the end of May. However, there had been feedback
from a number of businesses that had not benefited from the scheme.
The government had responded with a new discretionary scheme to be
implemented by the Council, that had a fund of £2.5M, grants
to individual business were likely to be significantly lower than
the first round of grants. Although grants were discretionary, the
Council would contact businesses to inform them of the availability
of this grant aid.

With regard to protecting the vulnerable the
initial priority was to protect those who were thought to be
particularly vulnerable. This was a national scheme provided
through the NHS and unitary authorities. It was acknowledged that
the quality of data on those who needed to be shielded provided by
the government had been particularly poor.

With regard to those who had were less
vulnerable. The Council had been asked to set up a Community Hub
and to act as facilitator and provide guidance for community
effort. Some staff had been re-allocated to form a team of
‘hubsters’. They had received 40-50 calls a day
requesting advice and help. This had been reasonably successful,
helped by the low infection rate to date in Devon & Cornwall.
There had also been a number of other grant schemes set up,
including, the Foodbank fund and a COVID hardship fund.

It was hoped to be able to keep the Community
Hub going and there had been central government funding for this
purpose. So far central government had provided £1.5M of
funding to EDDC. There was lobbying of central government to
provide further funding. If central government funding had not been
provided then there would be a number of local authorities that
would struggle ...
view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Update on the Car Parking Task & Finish Forum (TAFF)

The Car Parking TAFF had met on
four occasions prior to lockdown and agreed its Terms of Reference
at the first meeting on 7 November 2019 (see link below), when an
approach was adopted to consider issues in each of the main towns
of the District before proceeding further.

Links to previous meetings are
below so that Members can view progress to date and consider the
original Terms of Reference and priority themes in the context of
the more recently agreed climate emergency action plan and whether
a different approach is now required for the future, given the
Council’s commitment to climate change and the way in which
EDDC car parking policy could influence future driver behaviour and
potentially fund projects such as delivering electric vehicle
charging infrastructure.

Members noted that the Car Parking TAFF had
met on four occasions prior to lockdown and agreed its Terms of
Reference at the first meeting on 7 November 2019, when an approach
was adopted to consider issues in each of the main towns of the
District before proceeding further.

Links had been provided in the agenda to
previous meetings so members could view progress to date and
consider the original Terms of Reference and priority themes in the
context of the more recently agreed climate emergency action plan.
Members considered whether a different approach was now required
for the future, given the Council’s commitment to climate
change and the way in which EDDC car parking policy could influence
future driver behaviour and potentially fund projects such as
delivering electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

It was noted that following the anticipated
appointment of a new Leader and Cabinet at forthcoming Council
meetings; the membership of the TAFF would need to be amended and
so further consideration of car parking issues should wait until
the appointment of the new TAFF membership.

Councillor Maddy
Chapman reported her concerns about a potential influx of campers
and caravans to the district. Officers reported that they were well
aware of this issue and that government guidance was that people
travelling should not stay overnight. This would be enforced in the
district where appropriate.